citation
Ball, Cheryl E. (2009, Spring). The new work of composing: Editing an online (digital) multimedia book in English studies. Faculty Excellence Initiative Committee, Illinois State University. $4,000/course release.

abstract
This application is for a course re-assignment to co-edit and publish the first digital, new media book in the humanities, The New Work of Composing. Publishing books is considered the “gold standard” for tenure in the humanities, but the economic crisis in publishing pushes scholars toward digital publications. This is problematic because, according to a recent MLA survey, over half of humanities department chairs have no experience evaluating digital work for tenure. This is not surprising since there are currently no examples of digital, multimedia work. This project would fill that gap. Computers and Composition Digital Press, the first online-only academic press in the humanities, has requested our prospectus. My goals for the project are (1) to study how digital-media books and articles are composed/designed, peer-reviewed (by editors and tenure stakeholders), and revised for publication; and (2) to relate this research experience to my teaching and English department needs by proposing a class in digital scholarship. The course release will allow me time to collaborate on designing the collection’s interface, completing 2–3 sample chapters, and co-writing the introduction as well as to draft the course proposal. Research about editing the collection will be disseminated locally through seminars and brown-bags, as well as through national conferences and, after the book is published, via the press’s free, open-access website.

accompanying materials

• application/proposal